Good
news, everyone! The sales of men's underwear is up and you know what that
means: the economy is finally on the mend!

But wait, you say, what's the connection between men's tighty whities
and the economy? A lot, it turns out, at least according to then Fed chairman
Alan Greenspan:

"If you look at sales of male underpants it's just pretty much
a flat line, it hardly ever changes," NPR's Robert Krulwich explained
of the theory, after Greenspan's book "The Age Of Turbulence"
was published. "But on those few occasions where it dips that means
that men are so pinched that they are deciding not to replace underpants.
And [Greenspan] said 'that is almost always a prescient, forward impression
that here comes trouble.'"

Men, in short, were cutting back so dramatically on their spending
habits that they
were no longer buying underwear regularly. Three years later, with
the economy showing some signs of growth -- albeit slow growth -- they're
splurging a bit more.